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Testimonial of patient after Spine surgery by Dr. V.A. Senthil Kumar.

 

Step-by-Step Explanation of Knee Replacement Surgery.

TKR: A step-by-step review

Step 1: Making the knee incision
Step 2: Rotating the patella (kneecap)
Step 3: Preparing the femur (thighbone)
Step 4: Implanting the femoral component
Step 5: Preparing the tibia (shinbone)
Step 6: Implanting the tibial component

Step 7: Re-adjusting the patella
Step 8: Finalizing the procedure

Senior Citizens of today are commonly affected by Osteoarthritis of the Knee Joints. Let us discuss about it here in detail.

What is Osteoarthritis of Knee Joint?

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disorder of the Knee joint affecting the elderly.It is a progressive disease and the problem gradually increases from mild grade to moderate and severe grade over years. Cartilage is the cushion like cap covering the ends of the thigh bone and shin bone of the knee joint. It acts like a shock absorber and being very smooth and slippery causes frictionless movements of the Knee joints. Wear and Tear causes rubbing off of the cartilage of the knee joint. It leads to uneven surfaces in knee joint, pain because of the exposed bones under damaged cartilage coming into contact with each other. Also the ligaments holding the two bones of knee joints become abnormally tight or loose. This leads to deformity and instability of the Knee joint .


When Should One suspect Osteoarthritis of Knee joint?

Pain in Knee joint , occasionally swelling in knee joint, stiffness feeling in knee joints, instability feeling ( wobbly knees) on standing or walking,crackling (crepitus) felt during movements of Knee joint, difficulties in Walking and getting up from chair or bed, difficulty in climbing stairs are the symptoms of Osteoarthritis.


How to manage Osteoarthritis of Knee Joints?

It is important to identify the problem in early stages, and seek the advice of Orthopedic Specialist. He will do a clinical examination of the Knee joints and ask for an X ray of the Knee joints in the standing position. The diagnosis and the severity of the condition will be clear from this. Accordingly the doctor will advice the treatment.


What are the treatment modalities of osteoarthritis of Knee joints?

Depending upon the grade of Osteoarthritis of the Knee joint, treatment varies. For Grade 1 and 2 osteoarthritis, regular exercisesand physiotherapy - Quadriceps drill, precautions like not climbing stairs frequently, not squatting and not sitting cross legged are advised. Analgesics may be prescribed, but only for a short duration of time. Medications which improve the lubrication of the joint, and prevent degeneration of the cartilage are prescribed for 2-3 months along with calcium and Vitamin D supplements. Regular morning walks, cycling are good exercises. Maintaining optimal body weight is of utmost importance.
By following the above mentioned methods the progression of the disease process can be considerably slowed down. But Grade 3 Osteoarthritis where patients are suffering from continuous pain and difficulty in walking inside home , or outdoors, gross bowing of Knees and wobbly and unstable knees can only be corrected by Surgical Procedure called as Total Knee Replacement. In this, damaged cartilage cap is replaced with metal caps and Ultra-high-Molecular-weight-Polyethylene insert is placed between them after thorough soft tissue balancing. It is a common procedure nowadays, and gives best results when done by able hands.


How to prevent Osteoarthritis of Knee joints?

Maintaining ideal body weight, regular exercises, maintaining good nutrition are important. Strong bones and muscles developed from childhood and maintained in adulthood will greatly reduce the joints of osteoarthritis. From childhood one should make a habit of regular consumption of milk, curd, nuts, vegetables, fruits and meat products ( if non vegetarian patient ) an important part of life.

- Dr.V.A. Senthil Kumar,
Senior Consultant Orthopedics and Head of the Department , Dharamshila Narayana Superspeciality Hospital, Delhi-110096.